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THE IMPORTANCE OF GOLD IN CHINESE CULTURE

23 August, 2018

All of us are well aware of the fact, that different parts of the world possess different kinds of cultures and each one is different from the other. Gold is a metal that has great significance in several cultures of the world. The Chinese are one of the oldest civilisations in the world. This is something that makes the Chinese culture relatively more complex than the rest of the cultures.

Considering that the Chinese civilization is very old, it has seen many rulers and forms of governments. Since ancient times, gold is associated with good luck and is considered to be the colour of emperors. As it was considered a lucky sign, the emperors used to wear gold coloured clothes and also used to wear accessories that had gold on them or were golden coloured.

The significance of gold makes the golden colour a very important part of the Chinese culture. Gold as well as the golden colour has always been considered to be a symbol of lavishness in the Chinese culture. This has an association with the emperors using gold and golden colour.

People with a high status tend to use more gold; and gold items are considered to be a great gift. In the Chinese culture, the golden colour as well as gold are considered to be an earthly element and are a representation of wealth in the Chinese Four Pillars of Destiny.

The fact that Chinese culture is a complex one also reveals that the golden colour has a sort of dual meaning and it is the mourning colour used by the Chinese Buddhists. Besides this fact, the fact still remains that gold is an important part of all the important festivals of the Chinese culture.

The Spring Festival that takes place in China at the beginning of the Chinese New Year is one of the times when the demand of gold in China is very high and gold as well as jewellery sales go up significantly. This is the time when people buy gold for themselves, and also for their loved ones as gifts. The festival is an important part of the Chinese culture and triggers the sales of gold in China every year.

The dragons are an important mythological symbol that is prevalent in the Chinese culture. Gold is also used in the making of these dragons. Gold colour is used in abundance and there are also other small pieces used on these dragons for decoration purposes. Embroidery is also done using special kind of thread that is gold plated for making these dragons as wall hangings.

The cultural significance of gold is evident from the fact that gold has been a very important part of the Chinese currency since very old times. It is also a very important part of the Chinese art. A company was established in China in 1987, which makes commemorative coins that were made of gold. These coins are made in different designs on different occasions with a depiction of a particular event on the coin. This is a very important part of the Chinese art and culture.